The Chesian Wars (A Griffins & Gunpowder Collection) (8 page)

The Kingdom of Alogo had always been isolated from its neighbors in the matters of trade and alliances. That they were of a different people group and spoke a different language was only a minor basis for their separation. The Desert of Alogo physically separated the majority of the nation from its neighbors with thousands of square miles of arid, uninhabitable terrain.

Their long time separation from their neighbors to the north and east had forced the Alogoans to turn to Ehtroy to their northwest and Andivar on the other side of Krigare Bay.

"I fear that we will not be able to withstand the Chesian forces without the aid of King Mercer."

The nation of Ehtroy was the gateway between the eastern and western continents on the southern half of the world of Zaria. Where the two continents connected, the landmass narrowed to a few hundred miles called The Pinch. The Ehtroyans had secured their positions as the gatekeepers of trade and travel between the two continents by building a fortress in the middle of The Pinch that would be without rival: the Citadel.

The Citadel had expanded over the twenty-five hundred years since its construction and the Ehtroyans could now control the entire Pinch from its walls. One hundred cannons lined the fortress' walls and two divisions of infantry served as the garrison at all times. Smaller fortresses had been built in the Pinch, but the Citadel was the lynchpin to the Ehtroyan defense and trade income.

A knock at the door caused everyone to look around. The door opened enough for a guard to put his head through.

"Your Grace, Ambassador Haskins would like a word," Alastor Zika, Lander's second-in-command, announced.

"Please, let him in," Malis instructed.

The ambassador from Welos to Ehtroy was only a couple of inches taller than Dario. All of his hair had gone to gray and one of his green eyes had gone white with blindness. He had served the Welosi throne for most of his sixty years and had been assigned the position in Ehtroy because it was near enough to Welos that when he chose to retire, he would have a short journey home.

He shuffled into the room, sleep still heavy in his eyes, and inclined his head to Malis.

"Your Grace, it is good to see you," Quincey Haskins said with a small smile. "I would have hoped that it was in less concerning circumstances."

"Or at a more reasonable time of day?" Malis asked with a smile.

"That was the next on my list of conditions," Quincey said as he sat down. He lowered himself into the chair slowly and sighed. "I read the letters from Ariene."

"Then you know that Welos and Istivan are in agreement that the unification of Chesia under this so-called Emperor Maximilian is a danger to our security and to the freedom of the nations around us?"

"It has been my estimation that his unification plans were a threat from the day that I learned of Frederick Maximilian. When he took over his father's territory, he made it clear that he would be the first to unify Chesia under a single banner. Chesians aren't known for stopping when they get exactly what they want."

"Good. Then you'll help me convince King Mercer to join our coalition and stand against Chesia?"

"I'll do my best," Quincey said. "Warren is a stubborn man, like his father before him. Once he's set his mind on something, it's not an easy task to change it."

"If I wanted things to be easy, Quincey, I wouldn't have come all of this way in the rain." Malis smiled as he stood and offered his hand to the aged ambassador.

The King was in a foul mood when Malis and Quincey were admitted to his parlor. He lounged in an over-sized armchair, his left leg draped over the chair's right arm. Warren Mercer wore an opulent cloak, blue crossed with white and lined with black fur.

He was three inches shorter than Malis and overweight by half with a thick black beard shot through with gray, black hair that had gone silver at the temples, and brown eyes that hid behind a pair of shaded reading glasses.

Another man also sat in the parlor: Lord Chancellor Talbot Vena, in the seat to Mercer’s left. The Ehtroyan Chancellor wore a suit cut from a light blue cloth and a white linen shirt. His brown hair was cut short and one of his green eyes wandered. Talbot, as the Keeper of Coin, Master of Trade and Foreign Minister, controlled the flow of money into and out of the nation of Ehtroy. Whispered rumors said that he took his orders from the merchant lords of Ehtroy rather than from his king.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise? To be awakened from one of the few full nights of sleep that I'm able to get, by the Grand Duke of Istivan and the Ambassador from Welos."

"Your Grace, I apologize for the nature of my visit," Malis said as he slipped into a chair. "But the cause is urgent."

"Get it over with then," Warren said, his voice hoarse.

"Your Grace, I have come to the conclusion, and King Ariene of Welos agrees with me, that the actions of Frederick Maximilian in Chesia are a threat to the safety, security and freedom of every nation south of the Vast Sea." Malis rubbed his throat. "You don't suppose you could summon a steward? I've had a rather long travel from the rail lines and I'm quite parched."

"Steward!" Warren's shout echoed off of the black walls of the parlor and a timid looking boy scurried in through a small side door. "Get a pitcher of water, and make it hasty. And some glasses"

"Your Grace." The boy bowed and hurried back out through the door he had come in. He returned a few moments later with a pitcher of water and four glasses.

"Not for me, you nitwit." Warren slapped the offered glass. It flew out of the boy's hand and splashed against a wall. "Just get out."

"I'm not one to interfere with how you handle things, Warren," Malis said as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Then keep your mouth shut about it," Warren snapped. "Now, what do you want?"

"I want you to join Ariene and myself in standing against Chesia. Let us bring our armies through the Pinch and set up on the other side of the Citadel," Malis said and then took a drink. The water was cool. "If we combine our forces and entrench on the other side of the Citadel, there is no way that the Chesians will be able to get through to the Citadel."

"The Citadel is an impenetrable fortress," Talbot Vena interjected. "It has never, and will never, fall to enemy fire."

"The Citadel hasn't been challenged in seven centuries," Quincey pointed out. "And no one has fought a battle at the Citadel with gunpowder. Even the improvements that have been made to the fortifications will do nothing against a focused bombardment."

"You're assuming that there will
be
a bombardment," Warren said. "The Chesians are nothing but a gaggle of warlords and merchant barons that pretend they are a nation."

"They are a unified nation," Quincey said. "Frederick Maximilian has seen to that."

"They are a unified nation for now," Talbot said. "That will last as long as Frederick is able to redirect their natural aggression outward, toward targets that provide enough of a fight to keep the warlords busy but not enough of a fight to actually defeat his hordes of marauders."

"Malkala and Jarin-"

"Were barely more than city-states," Warren said. "They fielded armies that a single territory of Ehtroy would put to shame. Frederick was unwise to invade them both at the same time. He's left himself with nothing to attack."

"There are Garton, Andivar and Sithea," Malis said. Warren laughed.

"The Sitheans sealed an alliance with a marriage of their eldest princess to Frederick's son and heir," Talbot reported.

"I had not heard that," Malis admitted.

The nation of Sithea had never been a military or economic powerhouse, but they had maintained their position as a respected nation through a series of trade alliances and careful neutrality. Their position on the northern side of the western continent gave them quick access to the western ports of Ansgar, across the Vast Sea, and provided a constant flow of goods from the north.

If they had sided with the Chesians, the situation was more dire than Malis had believed. The Sitheans could close off Ehtroy Bay with their coastal fortresses and powerful fleet; the Bay was the best way to bypass the Pinch if Warren refused to allow passage through Ehtroy.

"Garton and Andivar both have standing armies larger than Jarin and Malkala combined," Talbot continued. "The Chesians would not be so foolish as to invade either of them."

"Reports from Malkala say that Frederick committed more than one hundred thousand infantry to his invasion, another forty thousand heavy cavalry, including his own Dragon's Teeth, and forty cannons," Malis said. "I would estimate that he devoted as many, or more, to the invasion of Jarin. Malkala is in a mountain valley, with only one escape. Jarin is an open nation and would require attacks from more directions."

"Those reports were surely exaggerated," Talbot argued.

"What if they weren't?" Malis asked. "What if Chesia sent two hundred thousand infantry to invade their two smaller neighbors? He wouldn't have sent his entire army, so you have to estimate that they have at least another four hundred thousand soldiers. An army of that size could roll through the Gartoni defenses and capture Festhold with little trouble."

"Malis, I'll not have you in my capital spreading rumors and stories about some phantom Chesian army that's going to invade Ehtroy and march through the Citadel as if it doesn't exist," Warren said. "I will not join your coalition, and I will not allow your soldiers to pass through my nation to start a war with Chesia."

"Then allow my ships to follow your coastline, drop anchor in your harbors and trade with your merchants," Malis said.

"Aiding your fleets would be the same as allowing your armies to march across the Pinch. The Emperor would see it as aiding his enemies and we would suffer the same fate as you."

Malis' eyes widened and he shook his head slowly at the realization that King Mercer was afraid of the Chesians. He knew that his Citadel would not stand against an invasion and he believed that if he fought, or helped those that would fight, he would lose his throne and, likely, his life. Warren would not take the path of resistance; he would take the path of surrender and acceptance of the Chesian way.

Without the support of Ehtroy, without the ability to use its harbors for safety against raiders or storms, Malis and his armies would have to wait until the Chesians overran the Citadel and Arbina. Sailing across the northern part of Ehtroy Bay into the Gulf of Sithea would take the Istivani and Welosi fleets past the Sithean fleet anchorage at the Scythe Islands and subject them to the powerful Sithean Navy.

"I see that you won't be convinced to see reason," Malis said and stood abruptly. "Just know this: when the Chesians crush the Citadel, you had best look elsewhere for assistance, because neither Istivan nor Welos will aid you in your fight against the Emperor."

"Get out!" Warren's knuckles were white and his arms trembled.

"Your Grace," Malis said, his voice dry despite the water. He bowed and turned toward the door. At the threshold, he stopped. "Remember this moment, Warren, when you're staring down the barrel of a Chesian pistol."

Malis didn't give Warren the opportunity to respond: he walked out of the parlor and into the passageway beyond. Quincey was close on his heels and Malis' guards led them back to the ambassador's chambers. The castle maids and stewards had awakened and a handful of them crossed paths with the foreigners, but most of the passages were empty.

The group walked in silence. Malis replayed the meeting in his mind, looking for ways that he could have handled the conversation better, or words that he could have used to convince Warren that Ehtroy needed to stand with Welos and Istivan.

A part of him knew that there was nothing that he could have done differently. Not only did Warren believe that he was right, he had refused any alternatives so strongly that he had to maintain his position or risk losing the respect of his nobles and merchant lords.

"I would suggest that you leave the city immediately," Quincey suggested as the group stepped into the common room for the ambassadors.

"He wouldn't dare seize the Grand Duke of Istivan," Lander Patera said.

"He would," Quincey said as he shed his cloak. "Warren is not afraid of your guards, Malis, and he isn't afraid of what your nation would do to him if he were to hold you. Or, worse, if he were to turn you over to the Chesians."

"Do you really think that he would risk a war with Welos and Istivan?" Malis frowned. He had heard that Warren Mercer had slowly lost touch with the realities of the world, but he was surprised that Quincey believed Warren to be suicidal.

"It would be best if we didn't let it get to that point," Quincey said.

"I agree," Lander said with a nod. "This place hasn't been the most pleasant."

"Very well," Malis said. "Quincey, as usual it was a pleasure meeting with you."

"Your Grace," Quincey said with a bow. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep."

Malis and his guards started back toward the palace entrance. Now the halls were busier, and as they neared the gatehouse, Ehtroyan soldiers became more common, most looking little better than half-awake. The sweet aroma of brewing coffee began to drift through the palace and Malis wondered if they should stop to eat before they rode back to the rail depot.